Tag Archives: the persistent widow

The concept of a stock market dates back nearly 500 years. The first stock exchange began in 1531 as Belgium brokers and money lenders met in the city of Antwerp to deal with business, government and debt issues. While the New York Stock Exchange is the most powerful and famous in the United States, the first began in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as the Philadelphia Stock Exchange. Today, there are cable networks devoted to following the rise and fall of modern markets. Green is good and red bad as a ticker scrolls across the screen revealing up to the second results of trading. Depending upon how a stock is trending, individuals scramble to buy or sell to maximize their investments.

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ, Romans 10:17.

Recently, I have begun to view my faith in terms of a stock market. If you could take the past year, placing your degree of faith on a flow chart, similar to the highs and lows of a stock, what would it look like? At your peak, what elevated or lifted you to this all time high. Meanwhile, when you reflect back upon your lowest lows, what caused you to experience, feel and end up in a rock bottom emotional state? Have you come to your senses like the prodigal son in Luke 15? Or has depression kept you paralyzed, enslaved by an addiction, bad habit or an undisciplined life? In the passage above, the apostle Paul gives some advice to the poor in faith. Investing time listening, reading and studying the Bible is a goldmine to those who want to become rich in faith.

“So it is for the one who continues to store up and hoard possessions for himself, and is not rich [in his relationship] toward God,” Luke 12:21.

Following the parable of the wealthy fool, Jesus reveals the reason why people hoard possessions on earth. When individuals focus on their own concerns and needs, hobbies can become obsessions. If there is no one to intervene, people end up on reality televisions shows like Hoarders or are visited by the crew from American Pickers. According to Jesus, the way to reverse this trend is by improving your relationship with God, Romans 10:9-10. Those who make investments in Bible Studies, mission trips or prayer groups will begin to see spiritual earnings rise. As individuals connect with God daily through church related activities and a personal quiet time, your faith will rise. Everyone will experience drops, falls and slides throughout life. However, if you develop a resolve like the persistent widow in Luke 18, you will become rich in faith.

In the summer of 2009, Staples created a witty back to school shopping advertisement. This commercial compared children going back to school to the most wonderful time of year for adults. Using a Christmas carol, parents are jubilantly placing school supplies into a shopping cart while both kids are dazed and depressed. From time to time, everyone needs comic relief to bring laughter and joy into your life.

“I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins,” Isaiah 43:25.

When it comes to the spiritual realm, you need more than a funny show to snap you out of a spiritual funk. This unhealthy state usually begins with distractions from the world, preoccupation with other priorities and simply forgetting to invite God into your daily life. Those that continue down this road, allowing busyness to take over will begin to experience the early stages of spiritual amnesia. Symptoms include memory loss in terms of biblical application, failing to pray, a tendency to forget to read the Bible and lost desire to attend church weekly.

“For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more,” Hebrews 8:12.

The only known cure to spiritual amnesia is confession. According to the Old and New Testament of the Bible, God pours out his grace, mercy and forgiveness to those who acknowledge their shortcomings. Unfortunately, the hardest part of spiritual amnesia is breaking free from its numbing powers. In my younger years, I went off to a retreat to revive my soul. Yet, as an adult with a busy schedule, you have to search harder than ever to find opportunities to regain spiritual momentum. Although recovery does not happen overnight, if you seek God like the persistent widow, Luke 18:1-8, your faith will be restored.

When you hear someone mention the term race, it’s often in reference to Track & Field, Horses or Nascar. Yet, my use is in the context of a personal battle. Currently, I have fluid in my left eye along with a recent collapsed cell wall. The sad thing is that this is my good eye. Following emergency glaucoma surgery in December, a cataract has developed in my right eye to blur my vision. Subsequently, I’m in a race against time to finish the book that I started this Spring. Meanwhile, I still have a collection of screen plays I need to edit and an additional script in my head. God willing I am hoping to complete these projects while I can still see.

And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him, 1 John 5:14-15.

Seeing and believing are two different aspects of faith. According to the verse above, prayers should be based upon God’s will. However, if what you are asking is foreseeable in the context of God’s will, you should be confident in having this request honored. The only problem with my current dilemma is I’m not sure if it’s in God’s will for me to write full time. As for now, I am trying to maximize my time away from work so that I can make the most of the gift of sight.

And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith,” Matthew 21:22.

This second verse on prayer refers to overcoming mountains, persisting despite obstacles blocking your current path. Since last winter, I wake up daily not knowing if my vision will be blurred or clear. I have the faith for the Lord to heal and restore my sight, but a medical miracle has not arrived. The only thing I can do is press on like the persistent widow. This woman of faith did not stop praying until she received the outcome she desired. Perhaps, perfect vision is illogical to hope for in prayer. Yet, I cling to the promises in the Bible waiting for a miracle to occur in connection with God’s will. This is my race against time.